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Monday, 31 October 2011

For a little bit of crafty goodness from me (I know, now you have seen everything!), pop over and check out my guest post at Frog Goose Bear. It is all about handmade gifts for girls and how this uncrafty Mum has managed to find her inner creative to help keep the buy nothing new dream alive. And while you are there, if you haven't already seen her work, take the time to look around Emma's blog. Fabulous, doable crafty goodness. Trust me. You will not be disappointed.

Friday, 28 October 2011

There were many fabulous posts in the February 2011 Edition of the Weekend Rewind last week. I took my time getting through all the entries and savoured their sweetness. I have been laughing about Christopher Peacock and Carrie Hiscock all week. But I am like that.

This week we are delving into the archives of March 2011. What were you posting about in March? The end of Summer? The Aussie Blogging Conference? Just stuff? Pick your favourite post and link it up for some new comment love.So if you are prepared to get started, the rules of this meme remain the same each week. All you have to do is become my friend, if we are not already acquainted, then link upa relevant post from your archives and get reading and commenting. The more comments the merrier. And don't forget to Tweet, Facebook and/or Stumble your favourites to share the joy with other readers. Try to add a link back to me in your posts so that we can expand the reach of the Weekend Rewind.

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

As you know we are trying to move the twins out of their cots. We haven't been successful yet, not necessarily because of their sleeping (although Dew Drop is still waking every.single.night. Enough already!). The current hold up is the bedroom relocation.
I have alluded before to our small predicament of having outgrown our house. We live in a small three bedroom place and, as you know, there are six of us. All of us share with someone. I grew up sharing a room so it sure doesn't bother me to have the kids sharing rooms, but it is logistically difficult.

Every time we move from one stage to the next, the rooms need to be shuffled around. The Geege and I gave up the main bedroom when four became six because with just one living space, the older boys needed somewhere to play. Away from the loungeroom. Out from under my feet. So they got the biggest bedroom in the house, and we took the smallest. It has worked out well.

When Nugget started school we had to make room for a desk in his room (not sure why exactly because he rarely uses it!). We managed to track one down for him (and a matching one for Doo Dah) that fit snugly in the available space in their room (with a quick repositioning of beds).

But now that the twins need to have bigger beds, we need to get a built-in wardrobe in their bedroom, which means that their current six drawer chests of drawers have nowhere to go. The new beds will swamp the room. I really don't want to lose that kind of storage (do you know how much stuff can fit into those tall boys?), so another bedroom shuffle may need to occur.

It is a constant battle just fitting into our place. All the decluttering in the world (and there has been much over the years) cannot make up for the simple fact that our house has been refusing to grow another bedroom or living space. No matter how many times I have wished it! The hide of it! That will be a trip to the naughty corner, right there.

The Geege and I have regular conversations about relocating versus extending. Currently the extension wins by a narrow margin, but in truth, neither is particularly appealing. Both spell lots of effort, time and money.

On the one hand, many hours discussing details like the virtues of off-white paint (or whatever the current hue is) and the best tile for the splash back. On the other, time spent scouring the internet, attending open houses, and negotiating mortages. Sounds like a lot of hard work when really, this place is our home. Right here. Just the way it is.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

After many years of working as a member of committees run by volunteers I have decided that I am all volunteered out.

It has never sat well with me when a committee is under-subscribed. When I see an advertisement in a newsletter for an organisation that I belong to, I always felt so bad that others were working so hard and I was not contributing. So I always responded to the call for arms. Always put up my hand.

I have been a publicity officer, a government liaison officer, a newspaper editor, and a membership secretary. I have worked with others on industrial awards, event management, recruitment drives, and rebranding of clubs. I have chaired meetings, taken countless minutes and written proposals, action plans, submissions and position descriptions.

All in my own time. All for the benefit of the community. An excellent opportunity to role model for my children. And a source of many skills and friendships for me. It has been as much fun as it has been hard work and I have no regrets for sharing my time or knowledge with others.

But today I am calling it quits. I am handing over my current role with my local Multiple Births Association with no clear plan for a new one any time soon. It is liberating.

Monday, 24 October 2011

I was lucky enough to have the whole weekend off from the family to myself.

A dear old friend married her sweetheart in a gorgeous ceremony in the Hunter Valley, and while the Geege and I were both invited to attend, work and family commitments meant that I went solo*.

I imagined that I would spend some time wine tasting and lazing and finishing my book, but apart from a quick tipple at Tempus Two while I sought directions to the venue after failing to bring the Tom Tom (*that* is what men are very good for!), there was little time for solitary activities. The wedding was a DIY event and many of us spent the afternoon assisting with the set-up (as well as cleaning up the next day).

Held in an architect-designed home in a rural hideaway, the service slipped seamlessly into the reception. It was styled by two exceptionally talented friends (with a strong sense of the bride's aesthetic). There were old pews, lanterns, everlasting flowers, butterfly garlands, birdcages and Japanese prints.

The bride wore a fabulous olive kimono-like dress with touches of burnt orange and a smile that lit up the room. True to form she had a wardrobe change and dazzled in a dusty green cocktail frock in the latter part of the evening.

We partied until the wee hours.

Laughter, musical memories, dancing and conversation. The night was a mixture of reunion and reminiscence and making new friends and connections.

Just what the doctor ordered for this bunny.

How was your weekend?

*A HUGE thanks to my Mum for spending the weekend at our place babysitting the kids while the Geege was at work and I was living the sweet life.

This week is all about February 2011. Pick your favourite post and link it up for some new comment love.

So if you are prepared to get started, the rules of this meme remain the same each week. All you have to do is become my friend, if we are not already acquainted, thenlink upa relevant post from your archivesandget reading and commenting. The more comments the merrier. And don't forget to Tweet, Facebook and/or Stumble your favourites to share the joy with other readers. Try to add a link back to me in your posts so that we can expand the reach of the Weekend Rewind.

To join this monthly carnival, each blogger sends their favourite post from the month before. So you get to read the cream of the crop.

Here are the entries for this month's carnival (in the order that I received them). Grab a cuppa and a small snack and get reading and commenting on these awesome posts.

Crissy Delloiaco from Phenomenal Woman has a very personal story to share in her postThe Hatred that Lingers Within.It comes about tonight, as it is my Mum's birthday. My beautiful, strong mother who I had never known until 2 years ago. Well, I had known her, but I had no memory of her as my father abducted me when I was 4, from Italy where I was born and lived with my Mother and Father.

Georgia from Parental Parody shares another day in her life with her post Beware the Crazy Woman at the Park.A day of parenting fails, followed by inappropriate yelling in a public space. Just another day in the life of me.

Janice from Learning 4 kids teaches usHow to Help Children Develop a Love for Reading?Books stimulate the senses, arouse the imagination, and inspire a love of reading that will last a lifetime. These are the simple everyday things I do with my own kids to encourage this love for reading.

Mandy from A Little Space Like Home reflects on the 9/11 tragedy in her post10 years on I remember. I still remember word for word what happened the day I woke to find the twin towers had been targeted. My thoughts feelings then and now 10 years on.

Lisa Natcharian from Brainstorming the Castle blogs about educating bright children.In my post "Which One Is The Gifted One: Harry, Ron or Hermione?" try to challenge the popular notion that "gifted" children are easily recognizable. In US schools, tailoring education to individual students is frowned upon, with the disastrous result that many bright children are ignored, never challenged, and become so bored they stop enjoying school and stop trying to learn (I hope things are less dire in Aussie schools!). Gifts and talents come in as many variations as stars in the sky, and it's such a shame to see any wasted.

Kirsty from Mummy To Five helps answer the question that many blogger ask What To Do When You Have Writers Block. At one time or another we will all experience writers block, here’s a way I combated it!

Tahlia from The Parenting Files says I know we all need to take some time out. It seems easy doesn’t it. Take time out….Go get a massage, get a facial, have a spa treatment, or even go to the gym, a walk, or a coffee with friends. Yet we are constantly drawn back to the housework, preparing dinner, making those phone calls to schedule appointments, tidying up the house, or dare I say it, working and writing our blog posts.

Allison from Life In A Pink Fibro writes a blog about writing, being a work athome mum and… whimsy.The Joy of Text reminds us that libraries teach us all sorts of things. Did you know butterflies smell with their feet?

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

As my kids start to get older (oh yes it is true!) I have become more aware of my role as a teacher in their lives. I don't just mean teaching them to get dressed and wash their hands after the toilet, but teaching them about the world and relationships and manners and etiquette and all the subtleties of being a functioning member of society.

Every day there are learning opportunities and, inspired by the home schoolers of the world, I decided to embrace my inner school ma'am and set up a home lesson or two.

So last week when Nugget asked me "When I am a world famous diver where in the world will I work?", I asked him what countries does he know of. He rummaged up "Japan" and "Australia" and Doo Dah piped up with "China".

So we wrote them down and with a bit of prompting the kids generated quite a list of countries that they knew (most of them opponents in the rugby) - USA, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, France as well as Japan, China, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

I stuck the list on the fridge (where all important lists in our house are kept).

Since then, every time we have come across a country, in conversation, on the television, in our story books, we have added it to the list: Argentina, Columbia, Madagascar, Israel, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Malaysia.

It has been surprising how quickly our list has grown. The kids come back from their days at daycare or school and enthusiastically say "I learnt another country Mum" and we share it with the other kids and we talk about where it is in the world and who its neighbours are and we write it on 'the list' and Nugget gets to have a try of spelling it too.

It has been a fun game and they have embraced it. They have been trying to weasel the names of countries out of me so that their list continues to grow:
"Where does Harry Potter come from Mum?"
"Where were my shoes made Mum?"
"Where does this animal come from Mum?"
"Which countries have you travelled to Mum?"
"Is Africa a country Mum?"

Doo Dah has even invented some interesting countries of his own: "Tastonia, Taswegia, Tasrika" (a bit of a theme there!)

Next week I am going to print out a picture of the world and we are going to plot all of the known countries onto it. Something visual for them to remember. The possibilities for this game are endless; we can add their flags and their languages and their capital cities and the thing they are most well known for.

And we can keep adding to the list.

How do you set up your teaching activities at home so that they are still fun? Do you think the onus is on parents to do the teaching these days?

Monday, 17 October 2011

Old mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to fetch her poor child some lunch. But when she got there the cupboard was bare so she had to make him something with crunch.

Don't you hate school lunches? After just one week back in the trenches, I am already scraping the barrel for interesting ideas.
I stumbled upon this fantastic recipe for biscuits posted by the marvellous FatMumSlim. Just four ingredients - carnation milk, butter, sugar and self-raising flour.

I had all the ingredients in the pantry and set off to work last night, between watching the World Cup Rugby Semi final (boo hoo) and folding the usual Mt Sunday of washing.

I made three different flavours, just from the stuff I had but Chantelle has lots of other ideas in her post.
Here are my jam drops and rainbow sprinkles before they spent a mere 12 minutes in the oven. Perfect and ever so easy!

Our school is celebrating Nude Food day tomorrow (a day early) and every Tuesday in Term 4. The Geege is dreading it because he does school lunch duty on Tuesday. I think it is the best idea since Sip 'n' Crunch and the Eco-garden (our school is rocking on the eco-front).
Healthy food, home-made treats, minimal packaging. What more could you want?

What ideas do you have for the Nude Food lunch box? Please share so I can pass on your wisdom to the Tuesday lunch maker in this household.

I heard this week (to my horror) that there are only 10 weeks until Christmas, which means 11 weeks until the end of the year! I think this leads perfectly into a weekly theme of the months of 2011 (as Sister A did last year). So dust off your favourite post from January, and link her up for some new comment love.

There are no additional prompts this week (except maybe not choosing a post that has already been rewound because some of us regulars run out of things to say, hey Cranky?).

So if you are prepared to get started, the rules of this meme remain the same each week. All you have to do is become my friend, if we are not already acquainted, thenlink upa relevant post from your archivesandget reading and commenting. The more comments the merrier. And don't forget to Tweet, Facebook and/or Stumble your favourites to share the joy with other readers. Try to add a link back to me in your posts so that we can expand the reach of the Weekend Rewind.

Thursday, 13 October 2011

I started this blog as a record of life, my thoughts and life's little lessons. Since entering the blogosphere, I have now accumulated more words of wisdom, interesting snippets and 'must-reads' to keep track of. It is a mind-field! Blog Bookmarks is a place to highlight some of my favourite finds for the week.

In honour of the the Carbon Tax legislation being passed into the house of representatives yesterday, I thought I would gather together some of the great 'green' blog posts I have been reading lately.

Maria from Eco-nest writes beautiful posts about living more sustainably. Given the whole Buy Nothing New thing this one called Consume less, smile more particularly resonates with me.

The Eco-Novice who is Going Green Gradually is a new-to-me blog. I discovered her because I have been searching for beds for the twins. She did this fabulous post on 'affordable natural beds' which made me really reflect on exactly what my children are currently spending 12 hours a day on (on a good night, oh okay, more like eight six hours but I am hopeful). Her 'start here' page is a wonderful resource if you are thinking of greening your life.

Rounding out the list is Brydie from CityHippyFarmGirl. Hers is a wonderful mix of a parenting, food, green living and whimsy. I confess that there are few of Brydie's posts that I don't love (she even manages to make sourdough recipe posts enthralling) but a couple of blog bookmarks of late include this one on reconnecting with nature city style and fairy sunrise (neither are particularly 'green' but both connected to nature).

So tell me, have you discovered any green blogs that I should be reading? Have you got a post that should be in this collection? Add the links in the comments.

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

There has been a lot of chatter about breastfeeding all over the blogosphere since the Slap aired last week. In particular the boy in the mini series who, at the age of four, is still being breastfed has caused the biggest uproar.

In all honesty I could not care less what others do to nourish their children, nor how long they do it for. But I do think that we as a nation are kidding ourselves if we think we are promoting breastfeeding.

Firstly, my personal experiences with the nursing fraternity were less than encouraging. When Nugget was born and my over-supply issues were discovered, the lactation consultant was busily encouraging me to breastfeed, while several nurses suggested that I 'just give him/her a bottle' so I could have a sleep. Um, what exactly is formula made of if you are so confident that it is going to help my child sleep?

On one occasion while Doo Dah was partying under the big lights in the Special Care Nursery (for jaundice), I wasn't woken for one of his feeds. I woke spontaneously after about 5 hours in a pile of milk with exploding bosoms (they joys!).

When I was finally transported to visit him upstairs in the nursery, I entered to find him being fed formula from a bottle. Despite the large sign on his cot that read: "Mum has enough milk to feed an army. Please call ANY time for feeds". I *certainly* wasn't feeling the breastfeeding support from that particular nurse.

And with the twins, it was assumed that they would be bottle fed. The hospital wasn't even equipped with a twin feeding pillow or an armchair big enough to accommodate me, my pillow (that a dear friend secured from Ebay for me) and my two babies.

Secondly we need to pull up our socks with this whole 'discreteness' debate. Due to the over-sexualisation of the breast, women are not permitted to breastfeed in public. I mean, legally they can, but they are made to feel uncomfortable. Men walk away, women look in the opposite direction, and God help you if you should accidentally expose a nipple or squirt milk. Egad!

You don't see women with bottle fed babies slinking off to the 'feeding room' of the shopping centre to slip their child a bottle. You don't see their companions looking like they would rather be sucked up into the earth's crust than have to endure you feeding your child.

The effect of this is two-fold. Those who do breastfeed in public places are stared at by all and sundry, and feel the need to find ridiculous ways to cover up, making the 'supplies' of breastfeeding yet another expense for the new parents.

In addition, by covering up breast feeding, younger generations are not exposed (excuse the pun) to this ancient art form. They don't get a sense of what it is like, or the opportunity to ask questions about it.

The best way to 'normalise' breastfeeding is to have it central to culture. Children, teenagers, young adults, all need to see that breastfeeding is the natural feeding option, that many are doing it. They need to learn about it. They need to understand how it works.

Breastfeeding is hard bloody work in the early days so women need to want to breastfeed to succeed at it. Women need to expect to breastfeed. They need to see that it is possible and the best way to do that is to allow it to be part of the world around them.

Lastly, the issue of extended breast feeding needs to be addressed if we are truly promoting breastfeeding. Some people seem to tolerate babies breastfeeding, but the notion of a toddler, or God help us, a pre-schooler or school age child breastfeeding is far from tolerable.

Like all things in the parenting realm; to each their own. WHO recommends breastfeeding until the age of two (I have never gotten that far). There are lots of reasons why women don't feed for that long and, equally, many reasons why a women may choose to feed beyond that. Digestive issues/allergies in the child, unsettled home life, moving continents, financial constraints, bonding, to name a just a few.

Why are we so judgie about extended breast feeding? Women who breastfeed beyond the "culturally acceptable one year old child" stage, need to be given the liberty to do so. Because they want to. Because their child wants to. Because they can.

So you can see, that in my way of thinking, we are far from being a culture that promotes breastfeeding. There are too many prejudices for it to be integral in our culture, and we are given too many mixed messages (from as early as the birth of our child).

Mostly we get flogged. We have been known to lose 7-0, for example. No-one in our team expects to set the world on fire with their soccer prowess but losing by that margin does take the shine off the game.To our credit, we turned up the week after that thrashing game, and just got on with it. In two seasons of Futsal, we won just one game.

We changed comps at the beginning of the summer season. We needed a change of scenery and hoped to find some teams who were as bad as we are, so we joined an outdoor five-a-side. The 'friendlies' didn't turn out too friendly (9-1 loss anyone?), but the first game of the season was tonight and I am pleased to announce that we drew! We were so excited you'd have thought we'd actually won the game.

Playing a team sport has many benefits. Exercise. Comradeship. Working with others on a common goal. A sense of belonging. A sense of achievement. You do not have to win to gain these things, but as we found out tonight, playing against another team of similar skill adds to the enjoyment of the game. It brings something we had been lacking for the last two seasons in our Futsal competition. It brings hope.

Do you play team sports? How do you perform? What keeps you going back for more?

Sunday, 9 October 2011

I had a night out last night. I even slept over at a friend's place so I didn't have to drive home. I hit it pretty hard with some old friends. Like I did before kids. When I could sleep 'til noon, have a long lunch and read the paper before tucking into another night on the town.

This morning I had to return to the brood by 9.30am so that the Geege could get himself to work. There was no lazy morning. No stodgy brekky or long, hot shower to pep myself up. It was up and atom.

I fulfilled my obligations today, as a wife and mother but (single) parenting with a hangover has been less than fun. There is just something about amplified noise, people climbing all over you, intense nagging and constant chores that does not meld well with a sore head, lack of sleep and a spell of self-pity.

The day after the night before is rarely worth it, is it? But it is absolutely not worth it when you have to just keep on keeping on. The children don't understand why Mum is a bit sensitive to noise after going to her party. Or why she kept hiding under her doona when we played hide-and-seek today. They just know that cranky Mummy turned up for work today.

One day the shoe will be on the other foot (scary thought #1245) but for now, I am pretty happy that adults still have some secrets from their young children. Explaining the side effects of drinking too much alcohol isn't something I am prepared to do just yet.

Have you ever had to care for your kids with a hangover? How did you manage?

Friday, 7 October 2011

After a week off from the Weekend Rewind I think it best we come back shouting, well sharing our opinions anyway. These posts do not have to be controversial, we have done that before, rather just a post that gives us a sense of how you feel about the subject at hand.

Perhaps it is a social comment? Perhaps it is your view on extended breast feeding (there have been a few of those posts in the last 24 hours after 'The Slap' aired last night)? or helicopter parenting? or the way the PM/President is running the country? Perhaps it is a rant? Or just a post about solidarity where you back up the opinion of another? However you see it, a post where your opinion is the star attraction.

So if you are prepared to get started, the rules of this meme remain the same each week. All you have to do is become my friend, if we are not already acquainted, thenlink upa relevant post from your archivesandget reading and commenting. The more comments the merrier. And don't forget to Tweet, Facebook and/or Stumble your favourites to share the joy with other readers. Try to add a link back to me in your posts so that we can expand the reach of the Weekend Rewind.